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Countries OK historic deal to protect nature

MONTREAL: Countries approved a historic deal to reverse decades of environmental destruction threatening the world's species and ecosystems at a marathon UN biodiversity summit early Monday.

The chairman of the COP15 nature summit, Chinese Environment Minister Huang Runqiu, declared the deal adopted at a plenary session in Montreal that ran into the wee hours and banged his gavel, sparking loud applause from assembled delegates.

Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the Conference of Biological Diversity, left to right, Huang Runqiu President of the COP 15 and Minister of Ecology and Environment of China listens as Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada, speaks during a press conference at the COP 15 summit on biodiversity, in Montreal, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022. (Peter McCabe /The Canadian Press via AP)